(Coracina Novaehollandiae)
Length: 32-35 cm Common
Despite their name cuckoo-shrikes are neither cuckoos nor shrikes. The name is a reference to their feathers which have similar patterns of those of cuckoos and their beak which resembles that of shrikes.
This slender handsome bird has a black face and throat, blue grey back wings and tail with white underparts. Male and female are of similar appearance. Found throughout Australia in any wooded habitat. Also familiar in suburbs where they are often seen perched on overhead wires or television aerials.
The Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike flies in a lazy undulating manner and they have a curious habit of shuffling their wings upon landing first lifting one wing then the other up off the body. Their diet consists of insects such as grasshoppers, caterpillars, beetles and other invertebrates, some fruit and seeds.
Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrikes may mate with the same partner each year and in the same territory year after year. Both partners construct a remarkably small nest for the size of the bird. It is a shallow saucer of sticks and grass bound with spider web. Both male and female incubate and raise the chicks.
